UNDERSTANDING AND
CONTROLLING LANDFILL FIRES
Extinguishment Methods
Excavate
and Overhaul:
Since the fire
at the Delta Shake and Shingle DLC landfill was deep seated, with
combustion occurring as much as 20 m below surface, it quickly
became evident that the fire would not be extinguished by water
application alone and a decision was made to excavate and overhaul.
The first step
in controlling the fire was to fill in the trenches previously
excavated by the landfill owner. This action reduced the
amount of air fanning the burn and made the landfill surface a
safer work environment. Next, the fire zone was smothered
with a 6’ to 10’ thick lift of refuse. Over a two day period
two D6 bulldozers were used to cover the fire zone with unburned
waste, thus limiting the availability of oxygen and slowing down
the rate of the burn. As shown in Photos 8 and 9, this action
dramatically reduced the rate of burn and the amount of smoke
that the fire was emitting.
Once the fire
was brought under control, two large excavators and six CAT D350D
articulated off-road trucks were mobilized to excavate and transport
the burning waste from the horseshoe to the cool down areas.
Because ignition of the main fill zone represented everyone’s
worst nightmare, the excavators were directed to work around the
perimeter of the horseshoe until a reliable fire guard was established
down to inert soil and concrete rubble. The remainder of
the 200,000 m3 were then overhauled.
next page
continue with Extinguishment Methods
|